The Joni Mitchell album that changed Weyes Blood’s life
For as long as Weyes Blood (real name Natalie Mering) can remember, Joni Mitchell’s music has been soundtracking her life. Mitchell has been there through thick and thin during pivotal moments for Mering, and the bond has only tightened with age.
Mering’s parents were musicians and part of the same Los Angeles music scene as Mitchell. Her father, Sumner Mering, recorded an album as Mering, produced by Jack Nitzsche, before leaving the dream behind for civilian life. During his rockstar heyday before becoming a family man, Sumner coincidentally enjoyed a brief romantic relationship with Joni Mitchell.
“It was a mystery,” Mering told The West in 2014 about her father’s past. “I remember being about five or six years old, and he got out his Fender Telecaster and started playing riffs, jumping around and telling us stories. That was the first time I realised he was a rock star. That was probably the moment that somewhere subconsciously within myself, I was like, ‘I’m going to do that’.”
During an interview with Tidal in 2017, Mering opened up about how Court & Spark by Mitchell changed her life. The singer-songwriter explained why she picked the record: “That was played at my house when I was a child all throughout my young years. That was an earworm to my life my mom, who was obsessed with Joni. She’s fucking brilliant.”
While Count & Spark was Mering’s first introduction to the enchanting world of Mitchell, she later revealed Hejira is now her favourite by the Canadian. She told Under The Radar in 2020: “I think it’s a sleeper, I’ve been hearing the record and knowing it for a long time, and it all of a sudden came to me like a revelation that it was a great record.”
Weyes Blood added: “I think as a kid, I didn’t see the innovation. As a woman growing up, I didn’t recognise how rampant sexism was and how people wrote certain women under the table for being really innovative, and instead of being praised for their innovation, they were essentially crucified because people wanted them to stay a certain way. As a woman, seeing the record in that context now, having been through the music industry in that way, makes it pop that much more.”
Although, musically, there are vast differences between Mitchell and Weyes Blood, who has a distinct vocal approach incomparable to her inspiration. However, undoubtedly, growing up on a diet of Joni Mitchell showed her the ropes of songwriting and has helped Mering become the magnificent artist she is today.
